Troy Gibson, Fractional CIO with Centric Consulting‘s CIO Services, was featured in InformationWeek, where he shared strategies for managing unexpected IT vendor shutdowns.
The article “What to Do When a Key IT Vendor Suddenly Goes Out of Business ” highlights the challenges leaders face in responding to these types of scenarios. Gibson said it’s critical to go on the offensive immediately rather than taking the wait-and-see approach.
“Waiting to see what will happen is a recipe for disaster,” he said, adding that the vendor’s other customers will be in a similar situation. “There are advantages to being at the table first to set the stage for what happens next.”
When it’s time to take action, Gibson said it can be helpful to engage with the vendor to see if they have a transition plan in place. “If this is a software solution, cloud-based or on-prem, negotiate to gain access to the code and build scripts,” he said. Reviewing the contract will also be key, particularly if there’s an escrow account for the code.
Finally, Gibson recommended conducting a vendor assessment annually to assess the business impact if a vendor were to go out of business. He reminded people that vendor size doesn’t matter, as large and small vendors alike have gone under, and vendors of various sizes may handle business-critical information.